Radio Replacement.....

[cx-7heaven]

Ok, I am almost done replacing my stock radio with my jvc kd avx1. I have found out that the Metra wiring harness for mazda 2001-up will fit the stock radio. I am custom fitting a bezel insert for the new deck. It's already cut and filed to shape and size, tomorrow I will get the glue and cut the DIN sized hole, hopefull have it installed. I am setting it up so that I can return it to stock if I want to. Hopefully I can post pics of it when I'm done(dont have a digital cam handy). Worst comes to worst, I'll take regular pix and scan em.

[1Sleepy93]

Can't wait to see the pics. Sounds like an interesting project.

[cx-7heaven]

Ok, Heres some pics:

[cx-7heaven]

Here are some more.......

Notice how the clock still works, even with the cable unplugged( setting it, thats another deal alltogether!!) The SQ is so much better now, my next project..........
AMPS!!!!!!
Audiobahn a6601t(75x6 RMS)
Audiobahn a3201t(840 rms bridged @4ohms)

All going into the wheelwell, out of sight

[the black one]

Was easy to take off the panel? seems really tight.. let me know what kind tools u use to take it off please~~ I'm trying to hook up ipod useing media button. if i can take it off i can find out thank u..

[cx-7heaven]

OK, on the pic below you see the arrows. You must insert a prying tool( I used a chisel) CAREFULLY in between the bezel and the dash on the right side above the air ducts(arrow). Make sure you are in deep, it will go about an inch to an inch and a half. then pry straight to the back and slightly up of the vehicle. It is a pressure fit and it is tight as hell. You will see that side pop. then use the tool on the drivers side and do the same thing. Then pull it out EASY from the top down to the bottom, always pulling straight to the back of the car.

[cx-7heaven]

I just got done designing my system, and running power wires for the amps. As I build the system, I will try to take some pics so that interested people can follow along. List of whats going in:

JVC KD-AVX 1 DVD deck
Kicker 5 channel xover
Audiobahn A6601t amp(75x6@4 ohms)
Audiobahn A3201t amp(840 bridged @4 ohms)
Polk MMC6500 front, rear speaks
MTX Thunder 5500 10's (4 of em!)
0 guage power and ground
Monster cable 401 xln interconnects, and speaker wire
Rockford 50 Farad Capacitor.

[CEW73]

man, that looks awesome! can you get a night shot of that with dash lights and and a video please?
thanks
great job by the way. where did you get the wiring harness?

[02589]

removed

[CEW73]

man, that looks awesome! can you get a night shot of that with dash lights and and a video please?
thanks
great job by the way. where did you get the wiring harness?



how do you set the clock???????? good question.
maybe with the way the wiring harness is, it is done by the radio still ?????
reply please so we dont go by radios and cant tell the time.(peep)

[spike blue]

awesome nice work!!!!

[cx-7heaven]

The way I look at it with the clock, it'll be right half of the year. I guess if I wanted to set it, I would simply plug in the stock radio and set it. The Metra harness just deadends the clock controls from the radio.

[cx-7heaven]

I got the harness at circuit city. It's for all mazdas 2001 up

[cx-7heaven]

Just got it installed, and man oh man does it sound incredible!!!!!!! I'm not done yet, gotta finish setting up my amp rack, and bolting,screwing stuff down. Pics by the weekend ladies and gentlemen!

[Z_Monzter]

IMO, your setup is nice but I don't like the foam around the radio. It doesn't look profesional. If I was you I would get a custom painted fiberglass fabication.

[cx-7heaven]

Thats not foam, thats abs plastic, it has a texture to it. I haven't been able to get rid of it yet, I'll prolly wait till a complete bezel comes out like they make for the 6.

[THOUGHT OUT]

How about totally disconnecting the clock? Does anyone know if there is a connector that can be disconnected?

[Byrnie]

I have a pair of Polk MMC6500 and I'm trying to get them in the front doors, How did you get yours in the front doors? Did you have to make your own mounting bracket? I really appreciate any help you can give me cx7Heaven. Also how hard are the doors to get off and where are the screws?

[cx-7heaven]

You have a pm

[Byrnie]

thx again cx7heaven.

[cx-7heaven]

Well, for any interested parties I have an update. 2 months ago I went to a db comp, and hit 140.7 with the setup in my sig(4 sealed 10's(headbang) ). Last week, I went and replaced my AB a3201t(840@4ohms) with a Sundown saz-1500d(1500@1ohm), moved the 3201 to my mids, and removed the 75x6 AB to use in the T/A in my sig. The Sundown is amazing, not metered yet, but I expect another 2-3 db out of it. I will be upgrading the mids from the Alpine type x 6.5 comps I have to either Boston Z6 or Diamond d971... not sure yet. I'll let you all know what I decide.

Laterz(lick)

[CXRabbit]

Hey CX-7heaven... you and I have been in touch about this stuff since a while ago :)

I finally did mine too... Post is HERE if you haven't seen it (http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123675281)

I'm so much happier with the aftermarket system, I cannot tell you... well I can... I'm sure you know what I mean :)

BTW, a few questions...

You figure out how to get the steering wheel controls going? The signal coming out from the steering wheel is multiplexed (some digital) and that signal has to be converted to analog... we've had a bit of a challenge getting that going. Any thoughts you'd like to share?

Figure out any way to get the clock set without the factory system? I'm wondering if Mazda can do it through a PCM program at the dealership (which would be good) so when daylight savings kicks in it could be changed. I'm hoping someone comes out with a wiring kit/harness for it at some point, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm just thinking there has to be a way to set it when the radio is gone/broken/etc.

I haven't done amp and speakers yet... that'll be later... I do have to say I'm pretty happy with how the installer set it up in my car. He did away with the amp and rewired the whole car straight out of the HU (high powered output), and it sounds BETTER than it did hooked up to the Bose Amp and OEM Radio. It's loud and clean. Of course, I'm sure nothing like yours (or my husband's for that matter, LOL).

Thanks in advance for any answers you can provide :)

[cx-7heaven]

I have seen it... very nice.. congrats! My steering controls dont work, they just not that important to me. The only way that I know how to set the clock is through the factory radio. When time jumps again, I'll just hook up the oem quick and set the clock, then hook my jvc back in. Until more stuff comes out for the cx-7, I'll be staying with what I've got in the dash, aftermarket is being really slow on this one.

[CXRabbit]

Aftermarket has been VERY slow on this... but I'm sort of glad because the custom dash kit the installer made for me is just awesome.

If I find anything out about the clock or the steering wheel controls I'll let you know. :)

[cx-7heaven]

Ok, I'll do the same.

[cx-7heaven]

Well, I decided on Diamond d971's and they arrived today! They are gorgeous speakers, and I cant wait to get them installed, I'm just deciding how I want to install them in my doors.

[cx-7heaven]

Well, I finally found the time to install those d971's, and they are awesome. I can definitely give myself an ear spankin now! Also, the 4 tens are going byebye, just ordered an ascendant audio havoc 18!!! It is going to be a beast!

[astraelraen]

Wow an 18" sub eh?

I remember like 10 years ago back in high school when truck space didn't matter it was so awesome to have a 15" sub... I didn't even know they made 18" subs.

I wish I had room for subs in the back, but I need the cargo space. I've thought about trying to stuff an 8" under a seat, I think it could work. Just haven't gotten around to it.

You should post some pics.

[cx-7heaven]

Yeah, cargo space is a foregone conclusion at this point! I will be getting or making a nice grill for the sub though, that way I'll be able to lay stuff on top if I have to. Pics will be forthcoming, maybe some flex vids too........(headbang)

[lisevolution]

that 18" is definitely going to put out some serious SPL. Be careful you don't blow out the rear glass with that thing!

[cx-7heaven]

That, my friend, may be an objective. I am not building it for extreme spl though, so I shouldnt have to worry about it. I expect only another 6 db at most, which would put me around 146-149.... definitely not window shattering spl. It will hopefully get very loud at very low frequency though.... that'll make the Pink Floyd REALLY rock!

[lisevolution]

I was just looking at that monster again and it's just screaming buy me!!! I may have to pick up a project hatchback and put one of these things in just to satisfy my urge!!! I'm working on something for the CX7 now that I saw 07LIQUIDCX7's sub box project. I'm definitely going to bite that mounting idea as it's the only way my GF will let me get away with putting subs in as it keeps the marjority of cargo space still intact. I have 2 12" Type R's laying around from my MSP but I'm thinking I may just get 3 10" subs for that type of enclosure. We'll see.

[cx-7heaven]

I got the 18 installed in a 7.57 cu ft (gross) box. The box may be a little big, I'm gonna play with the size a bit, but you guys will not believe the windshield flex on this bad boy!! I'm going to try to get some vids on youtube during the week, My buddy got real cool flex vid on his phone hes gonna send me tonight.

[StickShiftCamry]

I Got Mad Bass in my CX-7 too boi. In certain neighborhoods w/ certain rap/hiphop (Ex. Soulja Boy- Crank That) almost all the car's alarms go off. My class D mono blok has a boost @ 40hz so i set it at 10db boost, and in my head unit's built in 7 band EQ I boosted 62hz. My 8" L7 ripped a couple of wires (u know the wires that are within the woofer?) at long excursion, so in the mean time i'm usin a CVR 12 in a nice vented box. My vocals and highs are perfect cuz my head unit has a built in HPF, so no lows to the door speakers! My windshield don't flex, but the back windows do and my Rear view mirror always has to be adjusted after a loud playback.

[lisevolution]

I promise your 8" L7 is not putting out anywhere near the amount of Bass and pressure that his 18" is...

[cx-7heaven]

We'll put it this way: I'm actually worried that I will A) blow/crack the windshield down the center, or B) blow the seal out, and have the thing go flying off the car. Although the 8l7 can't be discounted. Last year, kicker built an spl vehicle with 1 8l7, and hit ~160db. That of course was a very specialized install, and car.

[cx-7heaven]

Heres some pics for yall:

Old:
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?automodule=gallery&req=si&img=2678

New:
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?automodule=gallery&req=si&img=2687

Comparo:
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?automodule=gallery&req=si&img=2679

Havoc... It's fun for everybody!!!:
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?automodule=gallery&req=si&img=2677

[lisevolution]

Sick

[1Sleepy93]

Cat sleeping on the woofer is priceless. LOL

[StickShiftCamry]

I promise your 8" L7 is not putting out anywhere near the amount of Bass and pressure that his 18" is...

It'll be close when I'm pushin two mono Class D, one for each (2) L7. I'm gonna expirement, I'll try two seperate mono class D's to two sperate CVR 12"s. I like the small size of the 8", but if i'm gettin lower w/ the two KKR CVR 12"s, then I'm gonna stick to them. And, look up specs on a L7 8" DVC 2 ohm @ http://www.crutchfield.com/S-NHqIuNpHFd7/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=520&tab=essential_info&i=206S8L72#Tab

[StickShiftCamry]

We'll put it this way: I'm actually worried that I will A) blow/crack the windshield down the center, or B) blow the seal out, and have the thing go flying off the car. Although the 8l7 can't be discounted. Last year, kicker built an spl vehicle with 1 8l7, and hit ~160db. That of course was a very specialized install, and car.

See.

[cx-7heaven]

Camry: That took a lot of engineering for kicker to be able to do that, I dont think joe blow on the street will be able to even come close. They probably hit that db at somewhere near 60 hz on a burp, that system would sound crappy to listen to. Lets see how your 8 does at 20 hz ;). That is where my 18 shines.

Btw, rebuilt the box(down to 4.9 cu ft):

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?automodule=gallery&req=si&img=2716

[cx-7heaven]

Camry: Also, you are downgrading if you go to cvr's. They are a couple levels below the l7. If you wanna go round 12's get the cvx's, if you have to stay with kicker that is. There are a lot better subs out there for your money......

[StickShiftCamry]

LOL, can't do 20hz. Overall, nice to listen to, cuz the headunit has a seperate sub level control, I have it turned mad low. PPl don' expect mad bass and loud wide range voice comin out of a fresh clean CX-7, I like drivin by X5's & FX's, among other new cars. Cuz theres Bass, then theres Bass accompanied by properly equalized vocals and highs.

CX-7 Heaven - I ripped the wires within the L7. U know if it can be repaired? ur into subs u'll know what i'm talkin about. My L7 is 5 yrs old, so Warranty is over, they repaired that same problem once for free, actually they just gave me a new one, but it happened again, its so simple, the wire that goes from the spring loaded connecter to the gluey area under the woofer. I'm gonna use a twin S8L7 setup when/if I get it repaired.

[cx-7heaven]

Any electronics repair shop shoul dbe able to do it for ya, but if this has happened already, I would take the opportunity to buy me some nice new shiny stuff!!!

[StickShiftCamry]

Any electronics repair shop shoul dbe able to do it for ya, but if this has happened already, I would take the opportunity to buy me some nice new shiny stuff!!!

Well I'm using new 2007 CVR 12"s now. But will eventually go back to the compact looking but surprising bass of twin S8L7's. Found some local speaker repair shops in the business pages.

[lisevolution]

that speaker can be repaired, but it'll probably happen again. I had a set of JL w6 10" subs like 10yrs ago that had this same problem. It was caused by too much heat. I was overpowering the woofers with my amp and it caused them to overheat and that was the result. Just as an FYI...

[StickShiftCamry]

Tnx, sounds rite.

[lisevolution]

no problem and good luck

[NYPDIDDY]

kinda ghetto lookin